[37] Bill 9 Original (PDF)
Bill 9 2001
An Act to bring
health and safety programs
to Ontario students
Preamble
All Ontarians must work co-operatively to positively address workplace health and safety issues for all Ontario workers, including our young people. Young people should enter the workforce with an awareness of their rights and responsibilities regarding workplace safety and occupational disease. Raising community awareness about workplace injury prevention measures and promoting health and safety is good for Ontarians, good for society, good for Ontario workers and good for business.
Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
Purposes
1. The purposes of this Act are to accomplish the following:
1. To equip Ontario students entering the workforce with skills and knowledge to prevent injuries, fatalities and occupational disease in the workplace, thereby reducing the disastrous effects that workplace injury, fatalities and occupational disease have on the individual, the family and society as a whole.
2. To ensure that Ontario students have access to information about workplace health and safety and the prevention of workplace injury and occupational disease.
3. To assist Ontario workers, injured workers, educators, school boards, community-based organizations and health centres in their efforts to prevent and eliminate workplace injury and occupational disease by educating secondary school students.
4. To create a Health and Safety Educational Council to survey and recommend programs to educate secondary school students about workplace health and safety and the prevention of workplace injury and occupational disease.
Council established
2. (1) The Minister of Education shall establish a council known as the Health and Safety Educational Council of Ontario in English, and the Conseil ontarien d'éducation pour la santé et la sécurité in French.
Appointment of members
(2) The Council shall be composed of at least 10 and no more than 20 members appointed by the Minister of Education after consultation with the Minister of Labour.
Regional representation
(3) In appointing members to the Council, the Minister of Education shall ensure that the different regions of Ontario are represented.
Composition
(4) In appointing the members of the Council, the Minister of Education shall ensure that the Council includes people in the following categories:
1. Secondary school students.
2. Injured workers.
3. Employers.
4. Educators.
5. School board trustees.
6. Representatives of labour organizations.
7. Other members of the public.
Term of appointment
(5) The Minister of Education shall make and renew appointments for such periods as the Minister considers advisable.
Reimbursement
3. (1) The Minister of Education may make regulations,
(a) respecting reimbursement to a member for expenses related to participating in meetings of the Council; and
(b) respecting reimbursement to a member for income lost as a consequence of attending meetings of the Council, where, in the opinion of the Minister, it would be appropriate to do so to prevent hardship to the member.
Same
(2) The Minister of Education shall reimburse members of the Council in accordance with the regulations, if any, made under subsection (1).
Staff and accommodations
4. The Minister of Education may provide the Council with the staff and accommodations that the Minister considers necessary for the purposes of the Council.
Functions of the Council
5. The Council shall perform the following functions:
1. Survey existing and proposed educational programs which might advance the purposes of this Act set out in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of section 1.
2. Consult with interested persons to identify ways to integrate the best existing and proposed educational programs into a province-wide program.
3. Develop recommendations respecting the most effective and most cost-efficient way of delivering these programs.
Council reports
6. The Council shall make at least three interim reports and one final report within two years after this Act comes into force.
Review
7. (1) The Minister of Education shall appoint one or more persons to undertake, and, within two years after this Act comes into force, complete a comprehensive review of this Act and the work of the Council.
Council may continue
(2) After considering the results of the review under subsection (1), if the Minister believes it is necessary to advance the purposes of this Act as set out in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of section 1, the Minister may require the Council,
(a) to continue to perform the functions set out in section 5 for a further period determined by the Minister; and
(b) to prepare and submit further reports at intervals determined by the Minister.
Requirement for reports
8. A report under section 6 and clause 7 (2) (b),
(a) shall include the Council's findings and recommendations;
(b) shall be submitted by the Council to the Minister of Education and to the Minister of Labour; and
(c) shall be made public by the Council within one week after it submits the report to the Ministers.
Commencement
9. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
10. The short title of this Act is the Student Health and Safety Programs Act, 2001.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill creates the Health and Safety Educational Council of Ontario. The Council advises the Minister of Education and the Minister of Labour about programs to educate secondary school students about workplace health and safety and the prevention of workplace injury and occupational disease.